Currently produced integrated circuits (IC), such as processors, demand higher power due to an increase in core counts, performance, and integration of multiple dies. This high power may translate to higher heat density on the dies and packages and require better thermal solutions to cool them. The keep out zones for placing the thermal solutions (e.g., heat sinks) on printed circuit boards (PCB) may be very limited, and boundary conditions may be well defined and bounded by American Society of Heating, Refrigerating and Air-Conditioning Engineers (ASHRAE) guidelines. The cost limitation may also be critical to a design of new thermal technologies. All these parameters may put a substantial burden on designs of efficient thermal solutions.
Current thermal solutions for dissipation of the heat generated by an IC (e.g., a processor) involve using a thermal interface between the processor and the thermal solution (e.g., heat sink). A thermal interface may comprise a thermal interface material (TIM). Typically, a TIM may be placed between an integrated heat spreader (IHS) of the processor and the heat dissipation device (e.g. the heat sink). However, thermal resistance of a thermal interface material in thermal solutions may become problematic in some instances. For example, for the processors, whose die power exceeds 200 W, the temperature difference across the TIM may vary between 10 degrees to 12 degrees Celsius. At the same time, a reduction in the processor temperature (even by one degree), if achieved, may result in a high gain and increased performance of the processor.